Death in the Kremlin by E.J. Simon

This thriller has some elements of near-term science fiction as the AI in the book is more advanced than where we’re at. Simon published it in November of 2024 and set the book into 2025. There is some justice, probably more poetic justice than true justice. No vengeance featured. And I’ll leave it to the reader to determine if anyone found redemption. If cleaning up one’s language is redemption, then maybe for one of the characters.

This is book five of the Micheal Nicholas series. It was the only one I’ve read and that did not pose a problem. Micheal Nicholas is a CEO of a large finance company who has been forced to take over his deceased brother’s shady booky business. I’m not going to go into much of the plot as I don’t want to give anything away, but it’s about secret advances in AI and Vladamir Putin’s attempt to use those advances to further his agenda against the west.

This was a fun story. Plenty of thrills and excitement. Some twists but nothing that surprised me. I saw most of them coming. But enough suspense to keep me going and wanting to know what will happen next. It ends on a cliffhanger, so maybe book six will pick up on that. But not so much of a cliffhanger that things are not resolved. The book ends. There’s a long denouement, but it was interesting enough it didn’t bother me.

The writing is good. Not over the top. The characterization is sufficient. The book is under 300 pages, so for those that read fast, it’s a quick read. Like I said before, a fun read. To borrow a phrase from one of my cousins, “mind candy”.

Some profanity and some sex, though more suggestive than graphic. Some violence, but then the story involves current day Russia, so there had to be unexplained deaths.

I’ll rank this one number twelve for the year.

1. Love’s True Calling by Lori DeJong
2. Through Thorny Ways by Jennifer Q. Hunt
3. The Seven Day Resurrection by Chevron Ross
4. With Mercy’s Eyes by D.T. Powell
5. Justice by Jeff Hill
6. Already in the Kudzu by Hannah Hood Lucero
7. The Misadventures of Itchy Izzy by N.Y. Dunlap
8. Ranch Showdown by Tina Wheeler
9. The Shocking Truth by Steve Rush
10. Daughter of Darkness by Ed Gorman
11. Burning Angel by James Lee Burke
12. Death in the Kremlin by E.J. Simon
13. Irresistible Impulse by Robert K. Tanenbaum
14. Line of Fire by Taylor S. Newport
15. The Longest Day by Terry Toler
16. Left to Die by Lisa Jackson

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